Now Kraft makes an old Cadbury favourite 14% smaller (...but you'll still be paying the same)

US food giant Kraft has dealt anotheer blow to chocolate lovers by announcing it is to shrink the size of its Cadbury’s Dairy Milk bar – but the price will remain unchanged.

Cadbury was taken over by Kraft earlier this year. And from February, it will shave 20g off its 140g bar, a reduction of about 14 per cent.

Other bars in the Dairy Milk range are staying the same size – but their prices are going up by as much as seven per cent.

Shrinking act: Chocolate lovers will have to pay the same price for less of the sweet stuff

Insiders said the reason for shrinking the 140g bar was to hold it at its current price of £1 so it can be promoted in shops.

The move is unlikely to endear Kraft to its many critics, who fear the American company lacks commitment to the long-term future of the iconic Cadbury brand.

A campaign by The Mail on Sunday launched earlier this month calling for a boycott of Kraft goods until it agrees to Cadbury paying its proper share of corporation tax in Britain has now gained the support of 24,506 readers.

In 2008, Cadbury was accused of removing more expensive chocolates from tubs of Heroes.

According to The Grocer magazine, however, Cadbury recently pushed up the recommended retail price of most of its top-selling Dairy Milk bars by up to seven per cent, more than double the rate of inflation.

That translated to an extra 3p on a standard bar of Dairy Milk in many shops and means the UK’s biggest-selling bar now costs 30 per cent more than it did three years ago.

A spokesman for Cadbury said last night: ‘We have taken the decision to increase prices because of economic factors such as ingredient costs.’

Krafty: Cadbury's new owners and makers of Dairylea cheese are likely to get criticism for shaving off 20 grams from its 140 gram chocolate bars

It is not the only sinner, however – boxes of Maltesers, made by Mars, shrank from 140g to 120g last year while Swiss food giant Nestlé trimmed its Yorkie and Aero bars – and also hiked up their price.

Nestlé has also increased the price of its Kit Kat and Kit Kat Chunky bars twice this year, according to The Grocer.

A spokeswoman for Nestlé said: ‘Occasionally we make small changes to the size of our products, driven by a number of factors, including anything from a product reformulation, to a change in packaging, through to increases in cost bases.’

The news about Cadbury bars follows the growing anger within the UK over plans by Kraft to move control of the British brand to Switzerland – a move that could deprive the Treasury of millions of pounds in corporation tax.

The chairman of the House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills committee Adrian Bailey last week sent a formal letter to Kraft’s Chief Executive Irene Rosenfeld summoning her to a meeting in the New Year.

Mrs Rosenfeld, who has been ranked the second most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine, snubbed the committee in March by sending more junior executives to be quizzed by MPs angry over her company’s hostile takeover of Cadbury.

A Kraft spokesman said last night that the company was still awaiting the letter.

Figures from Kraft’s accounts suggest the company, which also owns Terry’s of York, has already cut its corporation tax bill in this country since moving its European headquarters from Britain to Zurich in 2007.

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It was paying corporation tax of around £30 million to £40 million on profits of £105 million to £125 million in the early part of the decade.

But in recent years it paid around £1 million to £4 million, though much of the reduction was due to exceptional circumstances including a reorganisation of pensions.

Meanwhile, a Cadbury heiress has attacked Kraft’s proposals to shift parts of Cadbury to Switzerland.

Felicity Loudon, the great-great-great granddaughter of founder John Cadbury, said the move proved Kraft ‘doesn’t give a damn’ about the UK.

‘This was just always going to happen,’ she told a newspaper. ‘They cannot stop themselves. They don’t give a damn about the UK or the fact Cadbury is British.

'Last week we had the sweet-talking from them, saying they wanted to make everything English and talking up the heritage. Now this.’

She added: ‘They couldn’t afford Cadbury so they are having to cut costs everywhere they can.’

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Now Kraft makes an old Cadbury favourite 14% smaller (...but you'll still be paying the same)